Timing right (this year) for Blossomtime Festival

April 30, 2013|LOU MUMFORD | South Bend Tribune

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Motorcycle Drill Team will be making its 50th consecutive appearance Saturday in the annual Blossomtime Parade in St. Joseph-Benton Harbor. Also known as the Grand Floral Parade, the event will feature 125 units, including more than 30 floats. The first units are scheduled to step off at 1 p.m. in downtown St. Joseph. (Photo provided)

When it comes to blossoms, there’s no better time for them to show up in the area than during the annual Blossomtime Festival in St. Joseph-Benton Harbor. And with buds just starting to pop, it would appear the timing is perfect for this week’s festivities.

That’s in sharp contrast to a year ago, says Sabrina LaSota, the festival’s executive director.

“Last year, there were no blossoms,’’ she said, referring to the unseasonably warm March temperatures that accelerated crop development and the April freeze that took a big toll on local orchard owners.

This year, LaSota is all smiles. She’ll smile even more should predicted rain hold off, particularly when the Blossomtime Parade steps off at 1 p.m. Saturday in downtown St. Joseph.

“We’ve had other years when we’ve had snow,’’ she said.

The oldest and largest multi-community festival in Michigan, Blossomtime — essentially, a celebration of the beauty of area orchards — dates back to 1906, or six years before the Titanic put out to sea. The parade was added in 1923 and it wasn’t long before the colorful spectacle became the highlight of the festival.

Fitting, the grand marshal of Saturday’s parade, a two-hour event featuring more than 30 floats and close to 100 other units, will be the Indianapolis Metropolitan Motorcycle Drill Team. Initially invited by the late Bob Braamse, who was so identified with the festival he was known as “Mr. Blossomtime,’’ the drill team will be appearing in its 50th consecutive Blossomtime Parade.

Anyone who has seen the team in action likely remembers the segment in which an officer stands on his seat while zipping through fellow riders. In a Tribune story three years ago, one of those “stand-up guys,’’ Lt. Patrick White, a drill team member since 1992, said no one had ever fallen in a parade but one officer did suffer a minor injury during training one year in Florida.

Hopefully, an accident-free parade will play out again Saturday. The 1½-mile parade route in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor is likely to be packed in spots, with the parade theme “Ticket to the Movies’’ opening the door to any number of float designs.

Among the community queens and their courts waving to onlookers will be Katlynn Kennedy, a senior at Buchanan High School and this year’s Miss Blossomtime. The first runner-up in her community pageant, she was named festival queen thanks to an optional Miss Spirit competition that was added this year to give first runners-up a second chance to claim the coveted crown.

Obviously, Katlynn made the most of it, as have festival officials by offering an event that still draws crowds by the thousands.

For a schedule of this week’s festival activities, go to www.blossomtimefestival.org.